Overview:

Increased interactions between people and machines are creating a deluge of traffic, with increasingly unpredictable patterns. These dynamics have intensified the challenge to meet growth with traditional network products and architectures. A new approach, based on both physical and virtual innovations, is required to help service providers stay ahead of growing traffic demands while remaining profitable. Juniper Networks PTX Series Packet Transport Routers with custom ExpressPlus Silicon, built from the ground up with SDN in mind, provide service providers with a Converged Supercore architecture that reduces TCO with highly flexible, high-performance, and deployability innovations.

Product Description

New traffic dynamics like mobility, video, and cloud-based services are transforming traditional network patterns and topologies. Stratified, statically designed and manually operated networks must evolve to meet demands quickly and economically. Many operators have seen profitability stagnate and total cost of ownership (TCO) grow under the burden that growing traffic demands are imposing. Service providers need to become more agile in order to optimize their existing network resources, shorten planning cycles, and remove rigid network layers.

Static scale: The service provider backbone handles the entire weight of the network’s traffic. Therefore, it is paramount that the core network grows organically, along with the traffic. The silicon, system, and SDN innovations for the core empower service providers to scale faster than the traffic demands themselves in an elegant, elastic, redundant package—without requiring forklift upgrades.

Static architecture: Virtualized services and the explosion of cloud-based applications are creating traffic patterns that are increasingly unpredictable. To handle this unpredictability, service providers need their architectures to be flexible and dynamic across all layers. A rigid architecture hinders rather than enables programmable, predictable, and traffic-optimized networks supporting any service, anywhere.

Power challenges: For service providers, the operational cost to transmit a bit through the core is far exceeded by the power requirements to move that bit. Service providers have determined that the total power draw over a few years exceeds the total cost of deploying the network infrastructure. Efficient core router power utilization requires a holistic ground-up engineering approach.

In order to address these challenges, service providers need an innovative core router that delivers three defining principles: performance, deployability, and SDN programmability. With Juniper Networks® PTX Series Packet Transport Routers, Juniper is introducing the industry’s only core router that exceeds these requirements and easily fits into the service provider network, expanding the Juniper Networks Converged Supercore® architecture beyond lean LSR deployment, as shown in Figure 1.

PTX Series

The PTX Series Packet Transport Routers bring physical and virtual innovations to the service provider core network that directly address concerns about operational expenditures while scaling organically to keep pace with growing traffic demands. In order for PTX Series routers to lower operational expenses, physical innovations at the core silicon are needed. PTX Series routers are powered by Juniper Networks ExpressPlus™ Silicon, building upon the Juniper Networks Junos Express silicon concepts of low consistent latency and wire-rate packet performance for both IP traffic and MPLS transport without sacrificing the optimized system power profile. All of these concepts are incorporated into the design along with full IP functionality, preserving the spirit of the original Junos Express chipset. The ExpressPlus Silicon is the first purpose-built telecommunication silicon to engineer a 3D memory architecture into the base design for over 1.6 billion filter operations per second, dynamic table memory allocation for mammoth IP routing scale, and enormous power efficiency gains. The ability to address service provider core networking requirements of performance, deployability, and SDN control begins with the silicon. The integration of optical transport with 100GbE coherent technology further improves the economics of both metro and core networks. With PTX Series routers powered by the Juniper ExpressPlus Silicon, service providers can now deploy a Converged Supercore architecture with the efficiency of a lean core deployment with Juniper Networks NorthStar Controller SDN control, a robust full-featured Internet backbone router, and a converged regional IP/MPLS core router with integrated 100GbE coherent transport for superior performance, elegant deployment, and SDN programmability.

Performance is one of the guiding design principles for the PTX Series routers. This focus empowers service providers with superior scale to match increased traffic demands and simplified network engineering challenges with predictable system latency to improve the overall service experience and best in-class resiliency to ensure that service providers meet strict customer SLAs.

Deployability is the other guiding design principle for the PTX Series routers that focuses on power, space, and weight— fundamental concerns that impact the service providers’ operational budget with respect to growing traffic demands.

SDN programmability brings virtual innovations to the service provider core, while the Juniper Networks NorthStar Controller is an open, standards-based solution that optimizes both the IP layer and the transport layer with precise SDN control, allowing service providers to automate and scale operations.

PTX5000

The Juniper Networks PTX5000 Packet Transport Router transforms the core network with physical and virtual innovations for unprecedented scale and cost. Service providers now have the freedom to create new virtualized services anywhere in the network and elastically create a Converged Supercore architecture with precise traffic control without sacrificing the service experience. The PTX5000, for the first time, lets service providers seamlessly scale IP/MPLS traffic without sacrificing performance and deployability, the contributors to eroding TCO analysis for service providers. The PTX5000 focus is on the Converged Supercore architecture for service providers, which is optimized for LSR, Internet backbone, peering, and dense 100 Gbps opticalcoherent DWDM applications for large, high-speed, massivescale networks. As such, for the first time, service providers can match traffic demand with optimized core router performance and deployability. The PTX5000, the only core router that can be deployed in a standard 19-inch telecommunications rack, stands 36U high with eight line-card slots, two redundant route engine slots, and nine switch fabric slots. At 3 Tbps per line-card slot, the PTX5000 supports 24 Tbps of total system capacity. Powered by the Juniper ExpressPlus Silicon, the PTX5000 offers predictable IP/MPLS packet performance and functionality, eliminating the complex sawtooth packet profile found in elaborate overengineered NPUs deployed in other core routers. The PTX5000 supports 240 x 100GbE interfaces (in QSFP28 optic form factors) in a single chassis, delivering the scale required to match expanding traffic demand.

PTX3000

In many countries, as well as smaller central offices and lower bandwidth applications, the Juniper Networks PTX3000 Packet Transport Router is the perfect Converged Supercore router. The PTX3000 brings unprecedented capacity in a 22U package that supports 8 Tbps per chassis or 16 Tbps per one standard 19-inch telecommunications rack, all at wire-rate performance. Powered by custom Juniper ExpressPlus Silicon, the PTX3000, like the PTX5000, delivers predictable IP/MPLS packet performance and functionality, eliminating the complex sawtooth packet profile found in elaborate over-engineered NPUs deployed in other core routers.

The PTX3000 is the only Converged Supercore platform that complies with 300 mm ETSI standards for both transport and space-constrained central office environments, making it the most globally deployable core router on the market. It supports up to 8 FPCs, each of which supports one PIC. The PTX3000 can support 80 x 100GbE interfaces in a single chassis, with support for gray and coherent optic technology. The PTX3000 enables service providers to build a Converged Supercore architecture that optimizes LSR, Internet backbone, peering, and optical convergence applications for smaller regional deployments. As such, for the first time, service providers can match traffic demand with optimized core router performance and flexible deployments. With its ultra-optimized form factor, the PTX3000 is ideally positioned for space-constrained colocation facilities such as optical transport environments, central office locations in emerging markets where space and power are at a premium, smaller service providers wanting Converged Supercore advantages, and next-generation metro regional networks.

Architecture and Key Components:

New and emerging traffic dynamics like mobility, video, and cloud-based services are transforming traditional network patterns and topologies. Networks that are stratified, statically designed and manually operated must adapt to meet demands quickly and more economically. Many operators have seen profitability stagnate and TCO grow under the weight of growing traffic demands.

In anticipation of increasingly unpredictable traffic patterns and volumes, many service providers overprovision their infrastructure months in advance. This requires considerable capital outlay for equipment that largely sits idle. This financial imbalance is unsustainable. Instead, operators need to become more agile to optimize existing network resources, shorten planning cycles, and remove rigid network layers. Once this is done, service providers can leverage a highly intelligent Converged Supercore infrastructure to increase revenues by creating new customizable services.

NorthStar Controller, the industry-first traffic optimization SDN controller which lets service providers automate and engineer traffic across their SDN, increases utilization while reducing redundancy. Combining the power of Junos OS, WANDL optimization algorithms, and transport abstraction, NorthStar Controller enables Converged Supercore design across all networking layers, runtime traffic optimization, and “what-if” analysis. The result—new levels of control and visibility that help you avoid costly overprovisioning.

PTX Series Hardware Components

The first-generation and second-generation FPC line cards for the PTX5000 are based on the Junos Express chipset, making the PTX5000 the industry’s leading core router for LSR applications. Introducing the third-generation FPC line card for the PTX5000, based on custom Juniper ExpressPlus Silicon, expands the PTX5000’s application scope, making it the leading core router for LSR, Internet backbone, peering, and transport integration. The modular FPC design for the PTX5000 provides investment protection by allowing interchangeable PICs between generations of FPCs and deploying different PIC types simultaneously in a single FPC.

The first generation small form-factor FPC line card for the PTX3000 is based upon the Junos Express chipset, making the PTX3000 the industry’s leading space-constrained core router for LSR applications. Introducing the third-generation FPC line card for the PTX3000, based on custom Juniper ExpressPlus Silicon, expands the PTX3000’s application scope, making it the industry’s leading space-constrained core router for LSR, internet backbone, peering, and optical transport integration. The PTX3000 FPC architecture matches a single FPC slot with a single PIC slot for a 1:1 mapping schema. The PTX3000 and PTX5000 also share PIC types for interchangeable sparing.

Routing Engine/Control Board Complex

The Control Board (CB), which runs Juniper Networks Junos operating system, works with the RE to provide control plane and chassis management functionality while maintaining RoHS compliance. Software processes running on the RE manage the routing tables, while the protocols running on the switch control all of the interfaces, manage chassis functions, and provide the interface for system management and user access. The system can house two RE/CB complexes, with one acting as the primary and the other acting as the standby ready to take over in case of failure. The RE communicates with the CB via a pair of 10GbE links and a Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) bus.

SIB

Both the PTX5000 and PTX3000 switch fabric are engineered with a 9-slot all-active SIB architecture. In the case of a SIB failure, the remaining eight active SIBs maintain enough switch fabric capacity to support full line packet performance per slot— 24Tbps of total system capacity for the PTX5000 and 8Tbps of total system capacity for the PTX3000.

The PTX Series simplifies the management function based on the elegance and simplicity of the Junos operating system.

Features and Benefits:

The following is a summary of the features that are available on the PTX Series products.

Table 1: PTX Series Features and Benefits

Feature

Feature Description

Benefits

System capacity

The PTX5000 scales to 24 Tbps in a single chassis, breaking out into 1536 10GbE, 384 40GbE, and 240 100GbE interfaces. The PTX3000 scales to 8 Tbps in a single chassis, breaking out into 768 10GbE, 192 40GbE, and 80 100GbE interfaces.

PTX Series routers give service providers the performance and scalability needed to outpace increased traffic demands.

High availability hardware

The PTX Series routers are engineered with full hardware redundancy for cooling, power supply, Routing Engines, control board, and SIB.

High availability (HA) is a critical requirement for service providers to maintain an always-on infrastructure base to meet stringent service-level agreements across the core.

Exceptional packet processing capabilities help alleviate the challenge of scaling the network as traffic continues to increase, while optimizing IP/MPLS transit functionality around superior performance and elegant deployability.

Ultra-compact form factor that meets ETSI 300 mm standards

With cutting-edge innovation in power and cooling technology, the PTX3000 is the most compact core router, providing 8 Tbps of capacity at half the size of the competition.

Fully collapsing the optical layer into the IP/MPLS layer gives the PTX3000 the unique ability to scale and optimize traffic with visibility across all networking layers.

Service providers no longer have to source and deploy optical equipment and IP/MPLS routers separately, reducing the number of management touch points by up to 4x and reducing operational complexities by deploying optical and IP/MPLS together.

Specifications:

PTX3000

PTX5000

Physical dimensions
(W x H x D)

17.6 x 38.5 x 10.6 in
(44.7 x 97.8 x 26.9 cm)

17.5 x 62.5 x 33.1 in
(44.5 x 158.8 x 84.1 cm)

Maximum weight

310 lbs (140.61kg)

1,294 lbs (587.0 kg)

Mounting

Front or center
Rack mount

Front or center
Rack mount

Power system rating*

50 A @ -48 VDC
per input

92.5A @ -48 VDC
per input

Typical power
consumption

6.3 kW, fully loaded

10.5 kW, fully loaded

Operating
temperature

32° to 104° F
(0° to 40° C)

32° to 104° F
(0° to 40° C)

*These numbers are power supply ratings. Actual power usage is much lower